Arthur Stevens

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article does not cite any references or sources. (January 2007)
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

Arthur Stevens (born 1921) is a former footballer for Fulham Football Club.

A forward who emerged during the war, "Pablo" Stevens became only the third Fulham player to score over 100 goals for the club. Although he was a winger he scored 124 goals in 413 games, and remains to this day, the club's highest scorer in the FA Cup, more than even Johnny Haynes, who is widely considered to be Fulham's greatest player.

Arthur Stevens became only the third player to score a century of goals for the club, remarkable for a winger. He played for Wimbledon in 1937, Brentford two years later and Sutton United in 1940 before going to Craven Cottage in 1941 as an amateur.

He turned professional in December 1943 but the war took him overseas: his group in the Artillery gave machine-gun support to the company led by Fulham’s Major Jim Tompkins in the D-Day landings, the action in which Tompkins was killed.

Stevens played regularly in the side from 1946, and for 12 years was an automatic choice. With his peculiar running style, he would centre accurately at great speed or cut in for a shot at goal.

He nearly moved to Chelsea in 1949 in exchange for Tommy Lawton, but Stevens rejected the move, remaining a regular in the team which won the Second Division title that year: he also starred in the run to the FA Cup Semi-Final in 1958. He lost his place to Graham Leggat but remained on the coaching staff until Vic Buckingham’s arrival in January 1965.

He was acting manager for a short spell in the winter of 1964-65.